Sydney Zoo

Sydney Zoo

Elevated Boardwalk
Date opened	2019 (2019)
Location	Bungarribee, Australia
Coordinates	33°47′27.91″S 150°52′1.33″E / 33.7910861°S 150.8670361°E / -33.7910861; 150.8670361Coordinates: 33°47′27.91″S 150°52′1.33″E / 33.7910861°S 150.8670361°E / -33.7910861; 150.8670361
Land area	41 acres (16.5 ha)
No. of species	90
Memberships	ZAA[1]
Website	sydneyzoo.com

Sydney Zoo is a privately funded zoo currently under construction in the LGA of Blacktown, in Western Sydney, New South Wales. Sydney Zoo occupies a 16.5 ha site and has designed its facility from scratch, allowing it to offer the highest standards of animal care and welfare. Sydney Zoo is a member of the Zoos and Aquariums Association of Australia and New Zealand.

Team and Governance

Sydney Zoo has assembled a highly credentialed management team and Board of Directors with extensive expertise in the development and operation of large animal exhibition facilities and other significant 'turnstile' and tourism-oriented businesses, as well as philanthropy and major building project development.

Sydney Zoo's senior curatorial and animal acquisition team includes current and former presidents of the NSW Fauna and Marine Parks Association (NSW FMPA) and the current president of the International Congress of Zoos (ICZ). Sydney Zoo has established a strong governance regime on par with public company governance practice. These governance controls are designed to ensure that Sydney Zoo delivers on its mission and establishes and maintains the institutional disciplines required to preserve our Social Licence, including the highest standards of animal welfare, community engagement and social best practice.

Conservation, Education & Social Programs

Their animal collection and the precinct design strategy forms the spine of their institutional objectives and tactics with respect to their overlapping conservation, educational, and social programs.

Social programs include school education programs, aboriginal employment, work experience and workplace training, disability access programs. Specific infrastructure to assist in the delivery of these programs includes veterinary facilities, quarantine facilities, extensive feed preparation and storage areas, an educational amphitheatre, disability access.

Animal Care and Welfare

Sydney Zoo aims to be at the forefront of the modern zoo paradigm - exemplary animal welfare standards are the core of their operating ethos. Their number one priority is to ensure that the needs, interests and welfare of our animals are provided for to the highest possible standards. Sydney Zoo will employ species appropriate behavioural enrichment strategies, such that we avoid stereotypical behaviours and the animals in our care are healthy and active. The currently accepted industry paradigm is a hierarchical system of needs that should be met to achieve this, as shown below:

In recent times, there have been significant changes in the design and operation of modern zoos. Both animal welfare and public engagement are improved when animals have the opportunity to behave naturally and they are housed in conditions that reflect their unique environmental context, and so Sydney Zoo will strive to provide this.

Changes to community values and the operating philosophies of modern zoos mean that progressive facilities demonstrate a much stronger commitment to ensuring the welfare of animals, with:

· larger enclosures

· habitat replication

· environmental complexity

· and husbandry methods that promote natural feeding behaviours

Sydney Zoo has constituted the Sydney Zoo Animal Welfare Committee – a panel of external experts which provide independent oversight and expert advice in relation to our animal welfare practices. The Animal Welfare Committee conducts reviews of the proposed design and animal care facilities and will be responsible for ensuring that animal welfare is maintained to the highest standards.

Facility & Exhibit Design

Sydney Zoo’s proposed exhibit sizes exceed NSW Department of Primary Industries standards by an average of 2.6x. Sydney Zoo has been designed to have a lower number of larger exhibits. They have a 16.5 ha site, comparable to Auckland and Perth Zoos in total area. They have planned to display 90 species on site. Sydney Zoo will hold the lowest number of species per hectare of any metropolitan zoo in Australia.

Species Collection, Selection & Procurement

Sydney Zoo’s species collection and exhibit design work together through a regional display strategy. This allows Sydney Zoo to form a context and narrative around regions of the world and then draw attention to specific conservation issues through ambassador species. Academic studies have shown that a key to achieving positive engagement with our audience and improving learning outcomes is presenting animals in naturalistic habitats. A significant part of this is presenting animals in the context of their biome with other species, rather than as an individual species.

Species to be held include:

References